Example research essay topic: Christ Died Thesis Statement - 1,196 words

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Lord of the Flies The role of the prophet changes with the society in which he lives. In modern society, a prophet is a visionary, telling people what they can become; in Biblical times, a prophet was the voice of God, telling his people what they had to become to fulfill their covenant with God. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the prophet is a peaceful lad, Simon. He alone saw that the jungle, which represented freedom and the lack of civilization, was not to be feared but to be understood; he alone knew that the mythical Beast of the island, feared by all the boys, was, in fact, their own inherent savagery. Through these truths Simon represents a Christ figure paralleling Christs misunderstood message and Christs death. Simon was the observant character, the quiet philosopher.

He was often alone, sometimes by his own choice, and he liked to wander into the peaceful jungle. He sincerely cared about the other boys, sometimes helping the young ones to fetch fruit, yet Simon turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him. Soon high jungle closed in (56). He loved solitude and yet felt loneliness; he was alien to the other boys. The boys did not think anyone would be stupid enough to go into the jungle by night: The assembly grinned at the thought of going out into the darkness.

Then Simon stood up and Ralph looked at him in astonishment (85). Many of the boys even thought he was batty because he left the group to spend time alone. He did not fear the jungle, and he did not fear the Beast. Maybe, he said hesitantly, maybe there is a beast... maybe its only us (89).

The Beast takes many forms in the boys imaginations; once, they saw a strange shape moving at the top of a mountain, and they were afraid that it was the Beast. No one dared to go near it save Simon, who went alone to the mountaintop during one of his sojourns; he discovered that the Beast was only a dead parachute whose gear shifted in the wind. Ironically, the dead man was a soldier, a symbol of the savagery that was the true Beast. However, Simons compassion showed again as he braved the stench to cut the parachute from the corpse; he laid the Beast to rest. With this act of his pensive and generous nature, he proved what a good leader he could have been. The other boys would never have chosen him as a leader, though.

Simon had one terrible weakness, a type of hemophilia that caused nosebleeds. He often passed out from the loss of blood; he was not as energetic as the other boys were, and his resulting clumsiness made him appear not only weak but also somewhat stupid. For a moment or two, Simon was happy to be accepted (104), but these few moments were rare. Between his illness and his preference for solitude, Simon was too different from the other boys. (The lines above, discussing Simons weaknesses do not follow your thesis statement and they do not support your arguments. You can and should leave them out of the paper. ) Simon tries to state the truth: there is a beast, but that its only us (page #).

When he makes this revelation, he is ridiculed. This is an uncanny parallel to the misunderstanding that Christ had to deal with throughout his life. Later in the story, the savage hunters are chasing a pig. Once they kill the pig, they put its head on a stick and Simon experiences an epiphany in which the Beast tells Simon: Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!

You knew, didnt you? Im part of all of you (143). As Simon rushes to the campfire to tell the boys of his discovery, he is hit in the side with a spear, his prophecy rejected and the word he wished to spread ignored. Simon falls to the ground dead and is described as beautiful and pure. The description of his death, the manner in which he died, and the cause for which he died are remarkably similar to the circumstances of Christs life and ultimate demise. The major difference is that Christ died on the cross, while Simon was speared.

However, a reader familiar with the Bible recalls that Christ was stabbed in the side with a spear before he died from crucifixion. (THE PRECEEDING SENTENCES APPEAR TO BE SOMEONE ELSES WORDS. WHEN USING SOMEONE ELSES WORDS IT IS IMPORTANT TO CITE THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR AND PAGE ON WHICH THE QUOTE CAN BE FOUND. ) Just as Christ had to live among the sinners who would ultimately make him endure a slow and painful death, Simon lived among the savage children and was violently killed by them. As Christ was human, Simon was just as human as all the children on the island, abandoned to the end of innocence, the darkness of mans heart (202). The truth died with Jesus on the cross as the truth died with Simon on the beach.

He was not able to tell the boys about the true nature of the Beast. The basic premise of Lord of the Flies is that humans naturally live in savagery and ignorance, without any idea of how to live together. The most terrifying death in the novel is that of Simon, who symbolizes the eyes of a blind and stumbling group of children digressing into savagery. As Christ lived, so lived Simon, as Christ died, so died Simon. Each died because human nature hates prophets, because humans naturally live in savagery and ignorance. 1. Your thesis statement needs to be more exact.

He alone saw that the jungle, which represented freedom and the lack of civilization, was not to be feared but to be understood; he alone knew that the mythical Beast of the island, feared by all the boys, was, in fact, their own inherent savagery, does not cover exactly what you discuss in your paper. Your paper contains a complex discussion of Simons truths and his parallels to Christ. Such a complex discussion should, perhaps, have more than one thesis statement. A more exact thesis could be, He alone saw that the jungle, which represented freedom and the lack of civilization, was not to be feared but to be understood; he alone knew that the mythical Beast of the island, feared by all the boys, was, in fact, their own inherent savagery. Through these truths Simon represents a Christ figure paralleling Christs misunderstood message and Christs death. 2.

You state that Simon knew the jungle represented freedom and the lack of civilization. However, in your paper you only prove that the other boys were afraid of the jungle while Simon was not. You need to tell us how Simon knew what the jungle represented, why he was not afraid. What makes him seek out the jungle for solitude? Why does Simon understand when the other boys do not? 3. Do not begin discussing the mystery of the Beast until you begin a new paragraph.

Research essay sample on Christ Died Thesis Statement